Erik said:
My computer is set up in a cupboard outside my workroom - in order to avoid
any noise from the computer at my desk - I am rather sensitive to any
avoidable noise at my working place.
This causes som trouble with all cables pulled through at small hole in the
wall.
Now I have heard that it is possible to install a receiver at the desk and
transmit all communication (monitor, keyboard, sound, mouse) via a
LAN-connection.
Can anybody help with the name of such equipment -and perhaps with info
about any complications in using it?
Thank you for any suggestions.
Erik
This one is wireless keyboard, mouse, and video up to 1024x768.
It transmits on some channels in the 5GHz region, and may use the
same frequencies as are used by wireless networking. If someone
else had a wireless router in the immediate area, there is no telling
how well this would work. And 1024x768 is not a very high video resolution.
http://sewelldirect.com/Wireless-VGA-Extender.asp
If you have bushels of money to throw at this problem, I'm sure somebody
can solve your problem for you. A compromise technology would be fiber
optics, and a single fiber can carry virtually any signal you could think
of -- for a price. A glass fiber can carry multiple wavelengths, allowing
a "red light" signal to travel in one direction, and a "blue light" signal
in the other direction, all in the same fiber. With fiber optics, there would
be no complaints about consistent performance, as long as you leave the
connectors on it alone. The thickest part of a fiber optic cable, is the
jacketing, and the actual part that carries the light, is pretty thin.
The only problem with fiber having no protective jacket, is it would
break easily, and the glass pieces, if they enter the human body,
can cause health problems (the fiber is thin enough, that if you poke
your finger with a piece, it can actually float through your blood
stream).
This fiber optic unit uses two fibers (meaning they didn't bother with
the additional expense of wavelength multiplexing onto one fiber).
Fiber Optic KVM Extender with DVI $4995.00
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/KVM-X-Tender.html
There are also devices that use CAT5 cables to extend things. But that
would not be much of an improvement over what you have currently. Still
wires to put in place.
Free space optical would be another solution. If the two units were in
line of sight, sending an invisible optical signal would be possible that way.
That would only stop working, if you walk through the optical beam.
So there are ways to do it. The trick with the wireless one, is the
devices have to co-exist with everything else. For example, there was
one "commercial" unit, that needed a license to operate, due to it
using higher transmit power than is allowed under unlicensed operation.
There is another wireless technology, called ultrawide band, or UWB.
USB2 is about to go under a transformation, where it can be sent
wirelessly. I don't know what the practical consequences of the introduction
of UWB will be, as to whether other wireless LAN devices will see
reduced sensitivity or the like.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_wideband
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_USB
So the best technologies to base a solution on, are the ones that
don't compete with other devices, and have inherently unlimited
bandwidth. After that, there is the cost issue.
It is all a question of how big a budget you've got.
And if the current cables are doing the job, the cost is zero...
There are fanless computers. They can be combined with a SSD or
solid state drive. As long as the SSD has "wear leveling" as a
feature, it may have a decent life. I'd occasionally plug a
backup drive into a device like this, or even consider
running a Firewire cable to a drive you would place in
the cupboard. The problem with fanless, is the processor is
never the most powerful one available, and most people want
top performance and fanless at the same time.
http://www.stealthcomputer.com/littlepc_fanless.htm
http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=3654
(Example of a Firewire extender, if you wanted to connect
a hard drive via Firewire, all the way to another building.
For shorter runs, a normal Firewire cable will do. Firewire
800 gives performance pretty close to a local drive.)
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=2808 $899
http://www.firewire-1394.com/tt-firewire-800-usb-2-drive-kit.htm
http://www.barefeats.com/fire35.html (benchmark)
Paul
